Facsimile apparatus and method for transmitting information to a plurality of destinations

ABSTRACT

An information transmitting method in a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention comprises a first step of reading image information of an original to be transmitted, a second step of accepting an entry for specifying a destination to which the image information should be transmitted, a third step for storing the read-out image information, a fourth step of transmitting the stored image information to the destination specified by the entry in the second step, a fifth step of accepting an entry for specifying a destination to which the stored image information should be transmitted after the fourth step is completed, and a sixth step of transmitting the stored image information to the destination specified by the entry in the fifth step.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/985,224,filed Dec. 2, 1992 abandoned, which is a continuation of applicationSer. No. 07/487,770, filed Mar. 2, 1990, abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to information transmittingapparatuses, and more particularly, to an information transmittingapparatus which can transmit the same information to a plurality ofreceiving apparatuses at any time. Such type of transmission will bereferred to as "broadcast transmission" hereinafter.

2. Description of the Related Art

In a conventional broadcast transmitting apparatus, data from atransmitter or a data generating portion are once stored in a storageportion and, after the storage operation is completed, those stored dataare sequentially transmitted to a plurality of desired destinations, orreceiver-sides. With such a broadcast transmitting apparatus, however,it takes superfluous time only to store data while occupying the wholeapparatus, and this results in a low efficiency of the apparatus.

In order to improve this kind of disadvantage, a storage-type broadcasttransmitting apparatus which does not occupy any extra time in storingdata is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-8670. Inbroadcast transmission processing with this broadcast transmittingapparatus, read-out data are stored in a storage portion while at thesame time being transmitted to a first receiver among a plurality ofspecified ones, and the data transmission to the subsequent receivers iseffected by reading out the data thus stored in the storage portion.This means that the data storage operation and the transmittingoperation are performed in parallel, saving the time for storage.

With conventional broadcast transmitting apparatuses as described above,however, all destinations, or receivers, have to be specified at thetime of transmission processing. In other words, even when it becomesnecessary to transmit to any additional destination the same informationas is just being or was already transmitted, the transmission processinghas to be repeated from the very beginning and this makes the use ofsuch apparatuses inconvenient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to efficiently transmitinformation with a facsimile apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to easily transmitinformation to a plurality of destinations with a facsimile apparatus.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, a method oftransmitting information with a facsimile apparatus according to thepresent invention comprises a first step of reading out imageinformation of an original to be transmitted, a second step of acceptingan entry for specifying destinations to which the image information isto be transmitted, a third step of storing the read-out imageinformation, a fourth step of transmitting the stored image informationto the destinations specified through the entry in the second step, afifth step of accepting an entry for additionally specifyingdestinations to which the stored image information is to be transmitted,after completion of the fourth step, and a sixth step of transmittingthe stored image information to the destinations specified through theentry in the fifth step.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, an informationtransmitting apparatus according to the present invention comprisesreading means for reading out image information of an original to betransmitted, storage means for storing the image information read out bythe reading means, transmitting means for transmitting the imageinformation stored in the storage means, erasing means for erasing theimage information stored in the storage means in connection with anoperation for transmitting image information of the subsequent original,commanding means for commanding transmission of the image informationstored in the storage means, and control means for controlling thetransmitting means such that it transmits the image information storedin the storage means when a command is made by the commanding meansafter the transmission by the transmitting means and before the erasureby the erasing means.

According to the information transmitting method and apparatus describedabove, the once stored image information can be used as transmissiondata until reading operation for another image information begins, sothat transmission of information can be efficiently and easily effected.

The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of thepresent invention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of the present invention when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a facsimile apparatus according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the operation panel 35 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3(a-k) are specific diagrams showing display contents at thedisplay portion 41 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control portion of the facsimileapparatus in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a main flow chart showing control contents of thecommunication control CPU 50 shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the timer interruption subroutine set inFIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing specific contents of the print checksubroutine in FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing temperature control of a fixing roller in alaser printer of the facsimile apparatus in FIG. 1, in the regular timeother than night, holidays or the like.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing temperature control of the fixing roller inthe laser printer in the night, holidays or the like, in contrast withFIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing specific contents of the reading-outcheck subroutine in FIG. 5.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing specific contents of the transmissioncheck subroutine in FIG. 5.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing specific contents of the reception checksubroutine in FIG. 5.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing specific contents of the nightprocessing subroutine in FIG. 5.

FIGS. 14A to 14D are flow charts showing specific contents of thetransmission processing subroutine in FIG. 6.

FIGS. 15A and 15B are flow charts showing specific contents of thereception processing subroutine in FIG. 6.

FIGS. 16A and 16B are flow charts showing specific contents of thereading-out processing subroutine in FIG. 6.

FIGS. 17A and 17B are flow charts showing specific contents of the printprocessing subroutine in FIG. 6.

FIGS. 18A and 18B are flow charts showing specific contents of the keyprocessing subroutine in FIG. 6.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing specific contents of the imageprocessing routine in FIG. 14A.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a facsimile apparatus according to anembodiment of the present invention.

This facsimile apparatus is generally divided into a recording portion 1and a reading portion 30 in view of its functional aspect.

The recording portion 1 is comprised of a laser beam printer, operationof which will be briefly described below.

First, data that have been received through a hand set 27 connected to atelephone line are converted into emitting operation by a laser of anoptical system 4. A charger 8 uniformly charges a photoreceptor drum 5on which an electrostatic latent image is formed through illumination bythe laser beam of the optical system 4. Toner in a developing unit 9 isthen attached to this electrostatic latent image. Meanwhile, a paperfeed cassette 2 has cut sheets of paper stored therein which are fedinto the recording portion 1 one by one with a roller and the like.Instead of the paper feed cassette 2, a roll paper feed unit 15 which isprovided under the recording portion 1 and has roll paper and a cutterincorporated therein may also be used. When paper is fed from the rollpaper 12, it gets toner transferred thereon and then cut at anappropriate length by the cutter 13 before discharged. To return theleading edge of the just cut paper to a record starting position inpreparation for the subsequent record, the roller and the like arereversed. The toner having been attached to the photoreceptor drum 5 istransferred to paper (a cut sheet of paper or the roll paper) by atransfer charger 10 and fixed thereon by a fixing device 6. After thefixing, the paper is discharged into a tray 7. The toner that hasremained unattached to the paper is collected by a cleaner 11. The aboveis one cycle of the printing operation.

In the following, operation of the reading portion 30 will be described.

Originals put on an original image tray 20 are detected by a sensor (notshown), based on a transmission command at the operation panel 35provided on the upper surface of the recording portion 1, and conveyed,one by one, to the position of a sensor 23 by rollers 21 and 22.Rotation of the roller 22 by a motor (not shown) is synchronized withstart of reading by an image sensor 24 to read image data of an originalwhich are converted into digital image data. After the reading, theoriginal is discharged to a discharge portion 25 by a discharge roller26. According to the present embodiment, the rollers 22 and 26 aredriven by the same driving system to discharge the original from whichthe image data have been read out, in preparation for the readingoperation for the subsequent original. The image information read out atthe reading portion 30 is transmitted to the telephone line through thehand set 27.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the operation panel 35 in FIG. 1.

In the diagram, the operation panel comprises a ten-key group 40 forentering telephone number or the like of a destination, a displayportion 41 for displaying instructions of operation procedure,destination telephone number or the like, a transmission key 42 forgiving an instruction of transmission start after an original is set ordestinations are specified, an interruption key 43 for giving aninstruction of additional destinations for the broadcast transmission, abroadcast transmission key 44 for effecting a broadcast transmission,and a non-transmission key 45 for giving an instruction not to transmitimage data of a predetermined area.

FIG. 3a-k are diagrams showing specific examples of the contentsdisplayed at the display portion 41 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing structure of the control portion ofthe facsimile apparatus in FIG. 1.

In the following, the structure and operation of the control portionwill be described.

The control portion generally comprises the communication control CPU50, the operation panel portion 35 and a printer control portion 55which are connected to each other through a communication path fortransmitting several kinds of mode information and through a timingsignal line for transmitting several kinds of timing. The communicationcontrol CPU 50 is connected to several other blocks as shown in thediagram through buses.

First, when an original is put on the original tray 20, it is detectedby a sensor of a reading portion 57 and the detected information istransmitted to the CPU 50. The CPU 50 gets, based on the detectedinformation, the display portion 41 of the operation panel 35 to displaya request for entry of FAX number of a destination. After the entry ofFAX number, a motor and an IR unit of the reading portion 57 aresynchronized to read the original whereby obtaining image signals forevery one line. The one-line data are supplied to a buffer memory 59.Further, the image data in the buffer memory are compressed in acompressing/expanding portion 60 before stored in a compressed imagememory 51. Upon completion of the original reading, the CPU 50 calls afacsimile apparatus on a receiver-side through a modem 53, a NCU 54 andthe telephone line. After the telephone line is connected, thecompressed data stored in the compressed image memory 51 are supplied tothe compressing/expanding portion 60 to be expanded therein and thenstored in a page memory portion 61 as the image data before thecompression. Subsequently, the stored image data undergoes an automaticscale-down processing according to record sheet size inherent to thereceiver-side facsimile apparatus. The scaled-down data are furthercompressed in the compressing/expanding portion 60 according to a codingsystem of the receiver-side facsimile apparatus and again stored inanother memory area of the compressed image memory 51. These operationsof expansion and compression are performed alternately for every oneblock unit comprising several-line data.

While the compression is performed according to the capabilities of thereceiver-side facsimile apparatus, the thus obtained compressed data areprocessed in a HDLC analysis portion 52 according to the HDLC standardsand then transmitted to the telephone line through the modem 53 and theNCU 54. After all the images are transmitted, the line is disconnectedaccording to a disconnection procedure to terminate the transmissionprocessing.

Next, the receiving operation will be described.

When a transmitter-side facsimile apparatus calls this facsimileapparatus through the telephone line, line connection is made accordingto a communication procedure. After completion of the line connection,image data transmitted from the transmitter-side facsimile apparatus aretransferred to the HDLC analysis portion 52 through the NCU and themodem and therein returned to simple compressed data to be stored in thecompressed image memory 51. After the reception of all the image data iscompleted, the line is disconnected according to the communicationprocedure.

After the disconnection of the line, the image data are supplied fromthe compressed image memory 51 to the compressing/expanding portion 60to be sequentially expanded therein, and then stored in the page memory61 as actual image data. At the same time, the CPU 50 activates theprinter control portion 55 and transfer of the image signals from thepage memory 61 to the printer control portion begins. It is to be noted,however, that after completion of one-page expansion, the expansion inthe compressing/expanding portion 60 is suspended until the transfer ofone-page data is completed. This is due to the necessity to preventoverwriting of the expanded data since the page memory portion has anarea for only one page.

When printing of all the compressed image data in the recording portion1 is completed in the above-mentioned manner, the receiving operationcomes to an end.

FIG. 5 is a main flow chart giving an outline of control by thecommunication control CPU 50 shown in FIG. 4.

Before description is made on the flow chart, a term "on-edge" will bedefined: a changing state, or a state in which a switch, a sensor, asignal or the like changes from the on-state to the off-state will bedefined as "on-edge".

First, at step S1, a register, several input/output ports, several flagsand the like are initialized. Next, at step S3, timer interruption forperiodically calling an interruption service routine as will bedescribed later is set. Steps S5 through S13 represent several checkroutines for ensuring desired processings of the respective sequencescontained in the interruption service routine (for example, ensuringreading when it is to be executed). When the processings are completeduntil S13, the operation returns again to S5 to repeat the same checkroutines. Details of the respective check routines will be describedlater.

FIG. 6 shows the timer interruption service routine set in FIG. 5.

This service routine comprises five subroutines of transmission,reception, reading, printing and key processing as shown by the stepsS21 to S29, details of which will be described later.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing specific contents of the print checksubroutine in FIG. 5.

First, at step S61, setting state of a night flag is determined. Meaningof the night flag itself will be described later. If the night flag hasbeen set, then at step S62, setting state of a night lump work flag isdetermined.

When the night lump work flag has been set, image data received by thefacsimile apparatus in the night are stored in the compressed memoryportion, until they reach a definite amount and then printed out in alump. This means, for example in the present embodiment, only a temporalon-state of a heater is required for driving the laser beam printer, sothat frequency of turning the heater on can be reduced, advantageouslysaving energy.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing temperature control of the fixing roller bythe heater of the laser printer in the regular time other than night,holidays and the like, in the facsimile apparatus according to anembodiment of the present invention.

In order to enable the fixing roller to reach in a short time atemperature T₁ which allows recording, the heater is repeatedly turnedon and off in the regular time such that when temperature of the rollerfalls to a temperature T₂ a little below the temperature T₁, the heateris turned on, and the on-state of the heater is maintained until thetemperature of the roller reaches T₁. When the recording operation ofthe printer begins (on and after the time t₁), the roller is controlledby the heater such that the temperature is held at T₁ once it isreached.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing temperature control of the roller by theheater of the laser beam printer in the night, holidays or the like inthe facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

In a stand-by state where no recording operation is performed, forexample in the night, the heater is turned off. Therefore, the normaltemperature of the roller is T₃. At the time t₂ when the recordingoperation of the printer is required to start, the heater is turned onand controlled such that the temperature is held at T₁. It takes alonger time for the roller to reach the temperature T₁ than in theregular time and correspondingly the recording operation requires alonger time. This does not lead to any problem, however, sincesubstantial processing of the recording paper is not executed, forexample, in the night. Since various methods are already well-known forthe temperature control itself, details thereof will not be referred toherein.

Turning now back to the flow chart of FIG. 7, if the night lump workflag has been reset at step S62, the operation enters step S63, wherethe amount of used memory is checked against a set amount. If the usedmemory amount has reached the set amount (YES at step S63), the nightlump work flag is set at step S65. On the other hand, if the used memoryamount has not yet reached the set amount, the night lump work flag isnot set, but the operation returns to the main routine.

At step S67, existence of an image to be recorded (printed) is checked.If there exist any record image, after resetting state of a readingflag, a line transmission flag, a print flag, and an interruption flagis ensured through steps S69 to S71a, it is determined at step S72whether the record picture corresponds to an original with a largerlength in the passing direction than the regular size. If the recordimage is determined as such (YES at step S72), the roll paper isselected as recording paper suitable for such an original. If the recordimage does not correspond to such an original, a cut sheet of paperwhich is advantageous to file management and the like is selected atstep S74. After either recording paper is selected, the print portion isactivated (power of the heater or the like of the fixing roller isturned on) at step S75 and a print starting flag is set at step S77. Atstep S79, the display d shown in FIG. 3 is made to inform an operatorthat printing is just being carried out. On the other hand, if thereading flag has been set at step S69, the compressing/expanding portionis used for reading so that the operation returns to the main routineimmediately without entering the printing operation.

Furthermore, if the line transmission flag has been set at step S70, thecompressing/expanding portion is used for transmission, so that theoperation returns to the main routine without proceeding any further inthis subroutine. If the print flag has been set at step S71, theoperation also returns to the main routine immediately since anotherprinting operation has been already started.

If the interrupt flag has been set at step S71a, another original isbeing read out in an interrupting operation, so that the operationreturns to the main routine immediately without entering the printingoperation.

On the other hand, if it is determined at step S67 that there exists norecord image, the night lump work flag is reset at step S81 to terminatea lump printing operation. At step S83, operation of the printingportion is stopped (heater off), and at step S85, the display e of FIG.3 is made to inform an operator that the printing operation iscompleted, and then the operation returns to the main routine. Forexample in the night, however, this display may be omitted due toabsence of operators.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing specific contents of the reading checksubroutine in FIG. 5.

First, at step S101, it is determined whether any original is on theoriginal tray 20 or not. If an original is on the original tray 20, theoperation enters step S103, and if not, it jumps to step S111.

Only when all the respective flags have been reset at steps S103, S105and S107, the operation proceeds to step S109 where a read starting flagis set to start the reading operation. On the other hand, when any ofthose flags has been set, the operation jumps to step S111. This isbecause reading has been already started when the reading flag has beenset at step S103, while when the respective flags have been set at stepsS105 and S107, it is because the compressing/expanding portion has beenused for printing or transmission and unavailable for the readingoperation.

Subsequently, setting state of the read starting flag is determined atstep S111. When the read starting flag has been set, the operationproceeds to step S113 where the display a of FIG. 3 is made to requirean operator to enter destination dial numbers. At step S114, thecompressed data that were transmitted in the last transmission areerased. The reason of erasing the compressed data on this occasion isthat the data should not be erased immediately after transmission but beheld until another transmitting operation (reading operation) for thesubsequent original is started by an operator, in preparation foradditional key entry of manual broadcast transmission.

Meanwhile, the data erasure may be effected at any time if only thetransmitting operation [in this case, including the reading operation)of the subsequent original has been already started. Therefore, forexample, the time when setting of the original into the original tray isdetected, destination numbers are set, or reading of the original isstarted may be made a reference.

When the entry of dial number is completed at step S115, processings ofstep S117 and the following steps are executed to perform the readingoperation for the original.

At step S117, a first original is fed to the reading portion. At stepS119, arrival of the original at the reading portion is detected. If theoriginal has not yet reached the reading portion, the operation returnsimmediately to the main routine, but if it has, the operation proceedsto step S121. At step S121, several kinds of flags are set and at stepS123, the read starting flag is reset. Thereafter, the display f of FIG.3 is made at step S125 to inform an operator that the reading operationhas been started and then the operation returns to the main routine.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing specific contents of the transmissioncheck subroutine in FIG. 5.

First, existence or non-existence of transmission data is determined atstep S131. If there exists no data, the operation returns to the mainroutine, and if there are any data to be transmitted, the operationproceeds to step S133. Only when all the respective flags have beenreset at steps S133, S135, S136, S137 and S138, the operation proceedsto step S139 where the transmitting operation is started by setting theline transmission flag. On the other hand, if any of those flags hasbeen set at these steps S133 to S138, the operation returns immediatelyto the main routine. This is because the compressing/expanding portionhas been in use and not available for transmission when the flags havebeen set at steps S133 and S135, while when a line reception flag hasbeen set at step S136, it is because the line has been occupied forreceiving operation and not available for transmission. When a recordresumption flag has been set to 1 at step S137, the transmissionprocessing is restrained since an interrupting operation is beingcarried out or a recording operation that has been interrupted by aninterrupting operation is being resumed. When the line transmission flaghas been set at step S138, the operation returns immediately to the mainroutine since another transmitting operation has been already started.Subsequently, the operation proceeds from step S139 to S143 erasing thecompressed data that were transmitted in the last transmission.Thereafter, the display g of FIG. 3 is made at step S143 to inform anoperator that the transmission has been started and then the operationreturns to the main routine.

While according to the present embodiment, not those compressed datathat have been once expanded and again compressed in the lasttransmission but the initially compressed data are stored as thetransmission image data, either type of the compressed data may bestored for the additional transmission.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing specific contents of the reception checksubroutine in FIG. 5.

First, it is determined at step S151 whether a call has been madethrough the telephone line or not. When a call has been made, settingstate of the line transmission flag and the line reception flag ischecked at steps S153 and S155 to determine whether the line is in useor not. If it is determined at steps S153 and S155 that the line is inuse, the operation immediately returns to the main routine since thereceiving operation can not be started. If it is determined at stepsS153 and S155 that the line transmission flag and the line receptionflag have been reset, the line reception flag is set at step S157 tostart the receiving operation. Subsequently, the display h of FIG. 3 ismade at step S159 to inform an operator that the receiving operation isbeing carried out and then the operation returns to the main routine.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing specific contents of the nightprocessing subroutine in FIG. 5.

First, the time of day is read at step S173. The time can be detected bya clock IC 62 which is backed-up by a battery and connected to thecommunication control CPU 50. At step 175, it is determined whether thetime is between set values (for example, from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.). If thetime is not between the set values, it is determined to be in the nightso that the night flag is set at step S179. If the time is between theset values, it is determined to be in the regular time so that the nightflag is reset at step S177. If the night flag has been reset at stepS180, the cut sheets of paper are fed to the recording portion at stepS183. On the other hand, if the night flag has been set at step S181,the roll paper is fed to the recoding portion at step S185. This isgenerally because the roll paper has a lower possibility of causing jamthan the cut sheets of paper. In other words, if any jam occurs in thenight, it can not be easily restored due to absence of operators, andthis may probably lead to loss of the received data. Therefore, the rollpaper with a lower possibility of causing jam will be preferablyselected in the night.

While setting of the starting and ending times that define the setvalues is effected by DIPSW (not shown) according to the presentembodiment, it may be done by other method such as using the operationpanel.

FIGS. 14A to 14D are flow charts for showing specific contents of thetransmission routine in FIG. 6.

The reason why the compressed data are once returned to expanded dataand again compressed in the transmission is that a transmission systemcalled "memory transmission" is employed in the present embodiment. Thistransmission system is such that line connection for the transmission toa receiver-side (destination) is not made until image data of all theoriginals have been stored in a memory in the reading before thetransmission. At the time of the data storing into the memory, however,recording capability (recording size and the like), compression methodand so on of the receiver-side are unknown, so that coding of the datashould be effected according to any method convenient to thetransmitter-side (for example, a method with a high compressionefficiency). This is because the compressed data will have to be onceagain expanded to acquire the initial size and then compressed to beaccepted by the receiver-side when the compression method, recordingsize and the like of the initial compressed data do not match with thoseof the receiver-side in the actual communication later.

First, setting state of an expansion flag is determined at step S233. Ifthe expansion flag has been set, setting state of a 1-block expansionflag is determined at step S235, where 1 block represents a unitcomprising several lines of image data. If it is determined at step S235that the 1-block expansion flag has been reset, the operation proceedsto step S237 where compressed data of the subsequent 1 block aretransferred to the expanding portion. The expanding operation is set atstep S239 and the 1-block expansion flag is set at step S241.

If the 1-block expansion flag has been set at step S235, it means that a1-block expanding operation has been already started and it isdetermined at step S243 whether the 1-block expansion processing hasbeen completed or not. When the expanding processing has been completed,the 1-block expansion flag is reset at step S245, automatic scale-downis effected according to the recording size of the receiver-side(destination) at step S247 and further, where appropriate, imageprocessing (setting of the time, transmission source, printing function,non-transmission area and the like) is executed at step S249. Details ofthis image processing will be described later with reference to FIG. 19.Furthermore, the expanded data are once stored in the page memory atstep S251, 1 block of which is compressed by resetting the expansionflag at step S253 and setting the compression flag at step S255 beforethe operation proceeds to step S257. Therefore, the operation ofcompressing the 1 block that has been just expanded and returning thethus compressed data to the compressed data memory again is sequentiallyrepeated for all the pages.

Steps S257 to S275 relates to the compressing operation which isperformed according to substantially the same sequence in the expandingoperation.

First, setting state of a compression flag is determined at step S257.If the compression flag has been set, the operation proceeds to stepS259, and if it has been reset, the operation proceeds to step S277 inFIG. 14B.

At step S259, setting state of a 1-block compression flag is determined.If the 1-block compression flag has been reset, the compressingoperation is set at step S261, the expanded data are transferred fromthe page memory to the compressing portion at step S263 and then the1-block compression flag is set to start a 1-block compression. If the1-block compression flag has been set (NO at step S259), it isdetermined whether a 1-block compression has been completed or not atstep S267. If the compression has been completed, the 1-blockcompression flag is reset at step S269, the compressed data aretransferred to the compressed image memory at step S271, the compressionflag is reset at step S273 and then the expansion flag is set at stepS275 to start the expanding operation, before the operation proceeds tothe step S277.

At step S277, it is determined whether the above-described expanding andcompressing operations have been completed until the last page. If theoperations have been completed, a compression method changing flag isreset at step S279, the line transmission flag is set at step S280 andthen the operation proceeds to step S291.

At step S291, setting state of the line transmission flag is determined.If the flag has been reset, the operation immediately returns to themain routine. If the flag has been set at step S291, the operationproceeds to step S293 where setting state of atransmission-connection-completed indicating flag is determined to checkcompletion of the line connection to the receiver-side (destination). Ifthe transmission-connection-completed indicating flag has been reset atstep S293, the operation proceeds to step S331 in FIG. 14C where theconnecting operation is performed. If the flag has been set, the imagedata are transmitted according to the procedure represented by step S295and the following steps.

At step S295, it is determined whether the transmission of the imagedata has been completed or not. If the transmission has been completed(a picture-transmission-completed indicating flag=1), the operationproceeds to step S317, and if not, the operation proceeds to step S297.

At step S297, the transmitting portion is set to transmit the image datato the telephone line. At step S301, it is determined whethertransmission of one page has been completed or not and at step S303, itis determined whether transmission of all the pages has been completedor not. If the one-page transmission has not been completed, thecompressed data are continuously transferred to the transmitting portionat step S313.

If the transmission has been completed for the one page but not for allthe pages, the pages are renewed at step S309. When the transmission forall the pages has been completed, the picture-transmission-completedindicating flag is set at step S305 and atransmit-disconnection-completed indicating flag is reset at step S307and then the operation returns to the main routine.

Meanwhile, when the image transmission has been completed at step S295and the transmit disconnection processing has not been completed at stepS317, a transmit disconnecting operation is performed through steps S317to S324 in FIG. 14D.

First, line disconnection processing is executed at step S317, and it isdetermined at step S319 whether the line disconnection processing hasbeen completed or not. If the disconnection processing has beencompleted, a line-disconnection-completed indicating flag is set at stepS321, the line transmission flag is reset at step S323 and the display ishown in FIG. 3 is made at step S324 and then the operation returns tothe main routine. If the disconnection processing has not been completedat step S319, the operation immediately returns to the main routine.

On the other hand, if the transmission-connection-completed indicatingflag has not been set at step S293, a line connection is made at stepS331 in FIG. 14C. At step S333, it is determined whether the connectionprocessing has been completed or not. If the connection processing hasbeen completed, the operation proceeds to step S339, and if not, theoperation immediately returns to the main routine. At step S339, therespective flags are initialized and at step S34t, thetransmission-connection-completed indicating flag is set and then theoperation returns to the main routine.

FIGS. 15A and 15B are flow charts showing specific contents of thereception routine in FIG. 6.

First, setting state of a line reception flag is determined at step S351to check a line reception being carried out. If the line reception isbeing carried out, the operation proceeds to step S353, and if not, theoperation immediately proceeds to step S375 in FIG. 15B. At steps S353,355 and 359, it is determined whether connection for the reception hasbeen made or not, whether the reception of an image has been completedor not after the connection for the reception is made, and furtherwhether disconnection of the reception has been completed or not afterthe image reception, respectively, each step having alternativepredetermined steps to be selected according to its determinationresult.

When the line connection processing has not been completed (NO at stepS353), the line connection processing is first executed at step S367 andthen it is determined whether the line connection has been completed ornot at step S369. If the line connection has been completed, areceive-connection-completed indicating flag is set at step S371 and apicture-connection-completed indicating flag is set at step S373 andthen the operation returns to the main routine. If the line connectionhas not been completed, the operation immediately returns to the mainroutine.

When the line connection has been completed but the image reception hasnot been completed, the operation proceeds to step S375 in FIG. 15Bwhere setting state of an image reception starting flag is firstdetermined. If the image reception starting flag has been set, thereceiving portion is initialized at step S377 and the image receptionstarting flag is reset at step S379 and then the operation returns tothe main routine.

On the other hand, if the image reception starting flag has been reset,the operation proceeds to step S380 where a predetermined processing isexecuted to store the received image data. Whether the storage of onepage has been completed or not is determined at step S381 and whetherthe storage of all the pages has been completed or not is determined atstep S383. If it is determined at step S381 that the one-page storagehas not been completed yet, the operation immediately returns to themain routine. If the all-page storage has not been completed yet at stepS383, the pages to be stored are renewed, while if it has been completeda picture-reception-completed indicating flag is set at step S385, andthen the operation returns to the main routine in both cases.

Meanwhile, if the picture-reception-completed indicating flag has beenset at step S355, the operation proceeds to step S357 to disconnect theline. Whether the disconnection processing has been completed or not isdetermined at step S359. If it has been completed, the line receptionflag is reset at step S361 and the display j in FIG. 3 is made at stepS363 to complete the receiving operation, but if not (NO at step S359),the operation immediately returns to the main routine and continues thedisconnection processing.

FIGS. 16A and 16B are flow charts showing specific contents of thereading routine in FIG. 6.

FIG. 16A in particular shows a control flow of the IR unit and anoriginal feeding motor in the reading.

First, if the reading flag has been set at step S515, it means that thereading sensor and an original feeding pulse motor is under control andthe operation proceeds to step S517 and the following steps, while ifnot, the operation immediately proceeds to step S545 in FIG. 16B.

At steps S517 to S521, it is determined whether a one-line reading hasbeen completed or not, whether a one-block reading has been completed ornot and whether a one-page reading has been completed or not,respectively.

If the one-line reading has not been completed yet at step S517, theoperation proceeds to step S541 where it is determined whether theone-line reading has been completed or not. Only when the one-linereading has been completed, a one-line reading flag is reset at stepS543 and then the operation proceeds to step S545.

If the one-block reading has not been completed at step S519, theoperation proceeds to step S531 where it is determined whether theone-block reading has been completed or not. If the one-block readinghas been completed, a one-block reading flag is reset at step S533 andthen the operation proceeds to step S545. If the one-block reading hasnot been completed yet at step S531, the operation proceeds to step S534and processing is executed along steps S534 to S539. More specifically,one-line data of the original are transferred at step S534 and stored atstep S535, setting for reading the subsequent one-line data is made atstep S537, and then the one-line reading flag is set at step S539.

When the one-page reading has been completed at step S521, imageprocessing (printing of transmission source and the like) is executed atstep S522 and whether the all-page reading has been completed or not isdetermined at step S523.

When it is determined that the all-page reading has been completed atstep S523, the original is discharged at step S524 and it is determinedat step S525 whether the discharge has been completed or not. If thedischarge of the original has not been completed at step S525, theoperation immediately proceeds to step S545. If the discharge has beencompleted, the reading flag is reset at step S526, the read-out image isregistered as a transmission image at step S527 and the display k inFIG. 3 is made at step S528, and then the operation proceeds to stepS545. If the all-page reading has not been completed yet at step S523,the subsequent original is fed to the reading portion at step S529.

FIG. 16B generally shows processing by the compressing portion in thereading.

First, at steps S545, S547, S549 and S551, setting state of a readingcompression flag to be set in the reading, a one-line compression flagto be set in the one-line compression, a one-block compression flag tobe set in the one-block compression, and a one-page compression flag tobe set in the one-page compression is determined, respectively.

When the reading compression flag has been reset at step S545, or whencompression in the reading is not required, the operation immediatelyreturns to the main routine. If compression is required in the readingand the one-line compression is being carried out at step S547, theoperation proceeds to step S575 to determine whether the one-linecompression has been completed or not. Only when the one-linecompression has been completed, the one-line compression flag is resetat step S577 and then the operation returns to the main routine.

If it is determined that the one-line compression is not being carriedout at step S547 and that the one-block compression is being carried outat step S549, the operation proceeds to step S563 where it is determinedwhether the one-block compression has been completed or not. If it hasbeen completed, the one-block compression flag is reset at step S565 andthen the operation returns to the main routine. If the one-blockcompression has not been completed yet at step S563, one line of thecompressed data is stored at step S567. Furthermore, at steps S569 toS573, the one-line compression flag is set, the one-line compressed dataare transferred to the compressing portion and a command of the one-linecompression is set, respectively, and then the operation returns to themain routine.

If the one-block compression is not being carried out at step S549, theoperation proceeds to step S551 where it is determined whether theone-page compression is being carried out. If the one-page compressionis being carried out, a block reading flag is set at step S561 toactivate feeding of the original for the reading. If the impression isnot being carried out at step S551, the operation proceeds to step S553where it is determined whether the all-page compression processing hasbeen completed or not. If it has not been completed yet, then it isdetermined at step S557 whether the subsequent original has reached thereading portion or not. If it has not reached the reading portion yet,the operation immediately returns to the main routine, and if it has,the one-page compression flag is set to start the compressing operationfor the subsequent page.

If it is determined at step S553 that the all-page compressionprocessing has been completed, the reading compression flag is reset atstep S555, the interruption flag is reset to 0 at step S556 to resumethe recording operation that has been interrupted by an interruptingoperation when the reading of an interrupting original is completed, andthus the compressing operation is completed before the operation returnsto the main routine.

FIGS. 17A and 17B are flow charts showing specific contents of theprinting routine in FIG. 6.

First, setting state of a print starting flag is determined at stepS601. If the flag has not been set, or if the print starting should notbe activated yet, the operation immediately proceeds to step S611. Ifthe print starting is to be activated, setting state of a printingexpansion flag is determined at step S603. This is for the purpose ofpreventing image data transfer to the printing portion when theexpanding operation has not been started yet.

When the printing expansion flag has been set at step S603, a print flagis set at step S605, a print activating command is delivered at stepS607 and the print starting flag is reset at step S609. If the printingexpansion flag has not been set at step S603, the operation immediatelyproceeds to step S611.

At step S611, setting state of the print flag is determined. If theprint flag has not been set yet, the operation proceeds to step S389 inFIG. 17B. If it has been set, it is determined at step S613 whether aone-page print starting signal from the printing portion has beenreceived or not. If it has been received, transfer of one-page data isstarted at step S615. At step S617, whether the one-page transfer hasbeen completed or not is determined. If it has not been completed, theoperation proceeds to step S389. If it has been completed, the operationproceeds to step S619 where setting state of the interruption flag isdetermined. This interruption flag is set so as to temporarily stopprinting, thereby allowing an operator to read another original duringthe printing, and to resume the thus interrupted printing uponcompletion of the reading. According to the present embodiment, theinterruption takes place between pages. In other words, even when aninterruption request is made during printing of one page, it is notaccepted until the end of recording of the page. If the interruptionflag has not been set, the operation proceeds to step S625. If it hasbeen set, the print flag is reset at step S621, the printing is stoppedat step S622 and the interrupted image data that have not been printedare registered again as a print image at step S623. Further, a recordresuming flag is set at step S624 and then the operation proceeds tostep S625. At step S625, it is determined whether data transfer of allthe pages has been completed or not. If it has been completed, the printflag is reset at step S627 and the printing is stopped at step S629, andthen the operation proceeds to step S630. At step S630, it is determinedwhether a transmission image corresponds to the interrupted image datathat have been registered at step S633. If it does, the record resumingflag is reset at step S631 and then the operation proceeds to step S389.If this record resuming flag has been set, priority is given to theresumption of recording after another original of a user is read for aninterrupting transmission.

While according to the present embodiment, after the reading of anoriginal for the interrupting transmission, priority is given to theresumption of recording, it may of course be given to the transmission(to the line) or the reading and the transmission to the line may beexecuted at a time.

In order to perform the former control (transmission priority), aresumption before transmission flag is set at step S624 instead of therecord resuming flag, and the operation does not proceed to steps S630and S631 but it is determined between steps S303 and S305 whether theimage data correspond to the transmission image for the interruptingtransmission or not. If the image data correspond to the transmissionimage, the resumption before transmission flag is reset and theoperation does not proceed to step S137 but between steps S70 and S71setting state of the resumption before transmission flag is determined.If the flag has been set, the operation needs only to immediately returnto the main routine.

The processing of steps S389 to S409 in FIG. 17B represents a sequencealong which one-page compressed image data are expanded and stored inthe page memory.

First, whether the printing expansion flag has been set or not, or theexpanding operation is being carried out or not is determined at stepS389. If the printing expansion flag has not been set, the operationimmediately returns to the main routine while if it has, the operationproceeds to step S393 and the following steps.

At steps S393 and S395, it is determined whether one-page expansionprocessing has been completed or not and whether all-page expansionprocessing has been completed or not, respectively. If the all-pageexpansion processing has been completed at step S395, the printingexpansion flag is reset at step S397 and then the operation returns tothe main routine. On the other hand, if the all-page expansionprocessing has not been completed, the operation proceeds to step S399where it is determined whether transfer of the one-page expanded imagedata to the printer has been started or not. If the transfer has notbeen started, the operation immediately returns to the main routinesince it can not enter the subsequent expanding operation. This is toprevent overwriting of the expanded data in the same area. If thetransfer of the expanded data to the printing portion has been started,a one-page expansion flag is set at step S400. If the one-page expansionflag has been reset at step S393, it means that a one-line expansionprocessing in one page has been completed and thus the operationproceeds to step S401 and executes the following processing.

First, it is determined at step S401 whether the one-page expansionprocessing has been completed or not. If it has been completed, theone-page expansion flag is reset at step S402 and then setting state ofthe interruption flag is determined at step S403. If the interruptionflag has been set, the expansion flag is reset at step S404 to stop theexpansion processing and then the operation returns to the main routine.If the one-page expansion processing has not been completed at stepS401, one-line compressed data are transferred to the expanding portionat step S405 and the expanding operation is set at step S407 thereby tomake the expansion setting for the subsequent line. The expanded dataare stored in the page memory at step S409 and then the operationreturns to the main routine.

FIGS. 18A and 18B are flow charts showing specific contents of the keyprocessing routine in FIG. 6.

First, entry processing with the ten-key, or the key 40 in FIG. 2 isexecuted at step S701 and then the operation proceeds to step S703. Atstep S703, it is determined whether the ON-edge of the transmission keyhas been detected or not. If it has been detected, a value in a bufferentered from the ten-key is registered as a destination number at stepS705.

The operation then proceeds to step S707 where it is determined whetherthe ON-edge of the interruption key 43 has been detected or not. Onlywhen it has been detected, the operation proceeds to steps S709 to S713.More specifically, setting state of the print flag is determined at stepS709. If the print flag has been set, or if printing is being carriedout, the operation proceeds to step S711 where the display c of FIG. 3is made to inform an operator that an interrupting operation is possibleupon completion of the one-page printing, and then the interruption flagis set at step S713. Since the interruption flag is valid only whenprinting is being carried out, if the print flag has been reset at stepS709, the operation jumps steps S711 and S713.

The operation then proceeds to step S715 where it is determined whetherthe ON-edge of the transmission key 45 has been detected or not. If ithas been detected, the operation proceeds to step S717 where anon-transmission register flag is set, and at step S719, the display bof FIG. 3 is made to require an operator to enter width of anon-transmission area. While according to the present embodiment, thenon-transmission area is positioned along a lower edge, other areas suchas a lower right corner may of course be designated as thenon-transmission area. If the ON-edge of the non-transmission key hasnot been detected at step S715, the operation jumps steps S717 and S719.

At step S721, setting state of the non-transmission register flag isdetermined. If it has been set, register, or key entry of thenon-transmission area has been made or not is determined at step S723.If the key entry has been made, numeral values by the key entry areregistered as the non-transmission area width at step S725 and anon-transmission area flag is set at step S727.

Step S741 and the following steps in FIG. 18B represent a flow of theprocessing by the manual broadcast transmission key (key 44 in FIG. 2).

First, whether the ON-edge of the manual broadcast transmission key hasbeen detected or not is determined at step S741. If it has beendetected, whether printing is being carried out or not is determined byidentifying the print flag at step S743. If printing is being carriedout, entry by the manual broadcast transmission key is not accepted andthe operation immediately proceeds to step S759 unless the printingoperation is once stopped with the interruption key 43. If printing isnot being carried out (YES at step S743), the operation proceeds to thestep S745 where the manual broadcast transmission flag is set, and atstep S747, the display a of FIG. 3 is made to require an operator toenter a dial number.

At step S751, setting state of the reading flag is determined. Accordingto the setting state of the reading flag, an image for the transmissionis selected. More specifically, if the reading flag has not been set atstep S751, the operation proceeds to step S753 where the last read-outcompressed image data are set as the transmission data. On the otherhand, if the reading flag has been set at step S751, the operationproceeds to the step S755 where the image data just being read out areset as the transmission data. Finally, other processing concerning theoperation display is executed at step S759 and then the operationreturns to the main routine.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing specific contents of the imageprocessing at step S249 in FIG. 14A.

First, setting state of the non-transmission area flag is determined atstep S801 to judge whether non-transmission processing should beexecuted or not. If the non-transmission processing is to be executed,the operation proceeds to step S803 where it is determined whether theprocessing is being executed on the first page or not. According to thepresent embodiment, the non-transmission area is provided as an area inwhich a destination FAX number or the like can be written in case thatan operator leaves the transmission to another operator. Therefore, thenon-transmission processing is limited to the first page of the originalto be transmitted. It may be of course possible, however, to set aformat in which a certain portion of an original is never transmittedand to execute the non-transmission processing for every page. At stepS805, it is determined whether there exists any portion corresponding tothe non-transmission area in one block which has been expanded into thepage memory. If there exists a portion corresponding to thenon-transmission area, the operation proceeds to step S807 where 0 (0represents blank data) is written in the corresponding area as imagedata to erase the area. At step S809, other image processing such asrecording of the transmission source is executed, and then the operationreturns to the main routine.

While according to the above-described embodiment, the present inventionis applied to a facsimile apparatus having both the transmitting andreceiving functions, it may be also applied to a transmission-onlyfacsimile apparatus, providing the same affects.

As has been described above, according to the present invention, theimage data that have been stored in the storage portion can be used astransmission data until the reading operation for another original imageis started. Therefore, even when an additional destination is designatedafter the transmission processing, the broadcast transmission can beeasily effected and this provides a convenience for use.

Although the present invention has been described and illustrated indetail, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustrationand example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the spiritand scope of the present invention being limited only by the terms ofthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information transmitting method in a facsimileapparatus, comprising:a first step of reading out image information ofan original to be transmitted; a second step of accepting an entry forspecifying at least one destination to which the image information is tobe transmitted; a third step of storing the read-out information instorage means; a fourth step of transmitting the stored imageinformation to each of the at least one destination specified by theentry in said second step, said stored image information being retainedin said storage means after said transmission to each of said at leastone destination is completed; a fifth step of accepting, after saidfourth step has been completed, an operation entry of a manuallyoperated input key for specifying a further destination to which theimage information retained in said storage means in said fourth step isto be transmitted, said further destination being different from any ofsaid at least one destination specified by the entry in said second stepand being a destination that was not specified prior to the transmissionof the stored image information in said fourth step; a sixth step oftransmitting the image information retained in said storage means insaid fourth step to the further destination specified by the entry inthe fifth step without repeating said first and third steps; and aseventh step of erasing said image information retained in said storagemeans in said fourth step in association with an operation fortransmitting image information of a subsequent original, wherein saidfifth step can be performed at any time after said fourth step andbefore said seventh step.
 2. An information transmitting apparatus,comprising:reading means for reading out image information of anoriginal to be transmitted; storage means for storing the imageinformation read out by said reading means; a first key entry means forspecifying at least one destination to which the image information is tobe transmitted; transmitting means for transmitting the imageinformation stored in said storage means to each of the at least onedestination specified by said first key entry means, said imageinformation being retained in said storage means after said transmissionto each of the at least one destination is completed; erasing means forerasing the image information retained in said storage means inassociation with an operation for transmitting image information of asubsequent original; second key entry means for commanding transmissionof the image information stored in said storage means to a furtherdestination that is different from any of said at least one destinationand that is a destination that was not specified prior to thetransmission of the stored image information to each of the at least onedestination specified by the first key entry means, said second keyentry means including a manually operated input key; and control meansfor controlling said transmitting means such that said transmittingmeans transmits the image information retained in said storage means tosaid further destination when a command is made by said second key entrymeans and the further destination is specified by said second key entrymeans at any time between the transmission of the image information bysaid transmitting means to each of the at least one specifieddestination and the erasure of the retained image information by saiderasing means.
 3. An information transmitting method in a facsimileapparatus, comprising:a first step of reading out image information ofan original to be transmitted; a second step of storing the read-outimage information in storage means; a third step of transmitting thestored image information to each of previously registered destinations,said stored image information being retained in said storage means aftersaid transmission to each of said previously registered destinations iscompleted; a fourth step of accepting, after said third step has beencompleted, an operation entry of a manually operated input key forspecifying a further destination to which the image information retainedin said storage means in said third step is to be transmitted, saidfurther destination being different from any of said previouslyregistered destinations and being a destination that was not registeredprior to the transmission of the stored image information in the thirdstep; a fifth step of transmitting the image information retained insaid third step to the further destination specified by the entry in thefourth step without repeating said first and second steps; and a sixthstep of erasing said image information retained in said storage means insaid third step, after said fifth step.